IRS Taps Bitcoin Traders’ Exchange Data Pool $BTCUSD Coinbase Inc., an online exchanges for digital currencies, has warned thousands of its customers that it will be reporting their financial data to the US tax officials. The request was part of a probe by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into alleged tax evasion and advoidence. The […]

President Trump Right to Take Credit for Booming US Stock Market $DIA, $SPY, $QQQ, $VXX US stocks climbed to new records for the 3rd session running Tuesday, as investors took in the latest batch of Q-4 earnings and celebrated the reopening of the federal government. Tuesday, Blackstone (NYSE:BX) CEO Steve Schwarzman says President Donald Trump […]

People are Buying Bitcoin with Debit and Credit Cards $BTCUSD Some people afraid of missing out on the Bitcoin Bull Run has underfunded investors placing bets on credit. The data suggests that about 18% of Bitcoin investors used a credit card to fund purchases of the cryptocurrency, according to a survey of 672 active investors […]

China to Open Up Financial Markets with Tougher Regulations China’s central bank (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, 69 anni, says that the country’s financial system is becoming significantly more vulnerable due to high leverage. Zhou who has made some stern warnings recently about debt levels in the world’s 2nd-largest, soon to be the world largest economy. […]

Visa Inc (NYSE:V) HEFFX Highlights Visa Inc. V, +0.25% and PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, -1.03% said Tuesday they are extending their U.S. and Asia partnership to Europe. PayPal will use its banking license in Europe to join the Visa network of financial institutions and offer Visa accounts in Europe for consumers to use wherever Visa […]

Protect Yourself in the Age of Digital Banking $USB, $TGT In January of this year my laptop was hacked, on it was all of my banking information, my super bank caught it immediately and its safeguards protected me, my personal banker was invaluable then and is now, I am very grateful. Nevertheless, it was a […]

US Student Loan Debt Reaches $1.31-T Student loan debt in the United States stands at $1.31-T, far more than Americans’ total outstanding credit card balance of $779-B. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York calculated the numbers and released a report that includes debt data through the end of 2016. Other Key figures in the […]

IRS Tax Refund Delay to Weigh on Consumer Spending Legislation aimed at preventing fraud is delaying US federal tax refunds and is likely to hurt consumer spending by as much as $21-B this month. The provision in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act passed by Congress near the end of Y 2015 will postpone funds […]

US Consumers Spending Less, Much Less $DIA, $SPY, $QQQ, $VXX American consumer credit rose much less than forecast in December, for the smallest annual increase in household borrowing since Y 2013. The $14.2-B advance last month followed a revised $25.2-B jump in the prior month, the Fed numbers showed Tuesday. For all of Y 2016, […]

The Key Reasons Banks Turn Down Small Business Loans Over the last several years, large banks have been reducing the amount of loans that they issue to small businesses. The WS-J reports that it may be because of, “Weak demand, tighter lending standards and high costs have put a lid on small business borrowing” following […]

November, a Pivotal Month in the History of Financial Markets $DIA, $SPY, $QQQ, $VXX, $GS, $JPM November marked a Key shifts for global financial markets, with a number of asset classes from financial stocks, emerging-market bonds to hard commodities staging sharp price swings in the space of just 3 weeks. Investors believe that the election […]

Donald Trump Will “Trash” Obama’s No-Growth Orders $DIA, $SPY, $QQQ, $VXX The Trump Rally extends, US stocks finished higher Tuesday, with the DJIA hitting a record high close for the 4th session running as tech stocks rebounded from a post-election hammering and energy stocks were boosted by a sharp rise in Crude Oil prices. Tuesday, […]

US ‘Flirting’ with Recession in 2017 $UBS A team of economic strategists have warned that the US is flirting on the brink of a Recession. UBS Global Macro estimates a nearly 31% chance of a Recession in Y 2017. The UBS’ credit model, designed to find the likelihood of a recession over the next few Quarters, […]

Gold & Silver’s Run Forecasts a Coming Bust in Stock, Bonds, Credit Markets $GLS, $SLV, $UGLD, $GDX, $CEF, $PHYS In the coming years as investors are forced to seek safe-havens expect Gold to rise to record highs as asset bubbles burst in everything from stocks, bonds and credit. The precious Yellow metal is at the beginning […]

Entrepreneurship in America “Died” Under Obama $BAC The Y 2008 financial crisis buried US entrepreneurship, and it’s having a hard time coming alive again. A US economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC), recently said that the formation of new corporate firms and individual establishments has plunged since the financial crisis and remained low […]

US Demand for Autos Fall in July $GM, $F, $HMC, $TM, $VLKAY US auto sales drop in July as hot weather and softening demand kept buyers at home. Major automakers have reported July sales that fell short of expectations, which has reinforced worries that the market may have peaked with last year’s record numbers. Kelley Blue […]

The Policy Maker’s Peculiar Institution $DIA, $GLD, $SLV Two weeks ago the Dow Jones made seven consecutive new all-time highs. Since then the market has been digesting these new BEV Zeros, with the Dow closing never more than 1.00% from its last all-time high. Are there more BEV Zeros to come? Could be, but I […]

US Home Ownership at 50Yr Lows The US home ownership rate fell to the lowest in more than 50 years as rising prices put buying out of reach for many renters. The share of Americans who own their homes was 62.9% in Q-2, the lowest since Y 1965, according to a Census Bureau report Thursday. […]

Chinese Topped International Home Buyers In US The Chinese were the largest group of foreign buyers of US homes in the year ended 31 March. A National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey for the 2nd year running showed that Chinese nationals topped international home buyers in the US, with purchases of 29,195 homes totaling about […]

Vast Majority of Small Business Loan’s are Rejected by Banks No one likes to be rejected. Whether it’s a “No” from a job you interviewed for, the person you’re in love with or the bank, it hurts. And if you’re a startup or small business owner, you may be very familiar with the sting of “no” from […]

China Debt Burden Crisis Unlikely Amid warnings that China may face a financial crisis induced by its debt burden, an economic expert said this week that a number of factors make this scenario unlikely. “Economists have often used such adjectives as ‘neck breaking’ and ‘breath-taking’ to describe the very fast economic growth of China in […]

China’s Banks Not Vulnerable to Financial Crisis China’s banks are in pretty good shape and not vulnerable to a potential financial crisis despite a rapid rise of corporate debt in the country, a US expert said Wednesday. “While lending more to corporates unable to pay interest and principal on previous loans means financial risks are […]

China’s Economy Seeing Stable Growth in 2016 Recent figures have shown that the Chinese economy has generally seen stable growth with deepening supply-side structural reforms, an official from the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. Meanwhile, measures have been taken to expand total demand in the 1st 4 months of this year, contributing to economic […]

Elon Musk Buys His Company’s Stocks & Bonds on Credit, Pledges His Shares $TSLA, $SCTY, $GS, $MS Elon Musk is Risky Business SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ:SATY) has tried in vain since October 2014 to lure individual (retail) investors to the solar-power business by pitching $214-M of what he dubs “solar bonds” through the company’s website. The […]

UAE Business Loan Demand Grows, Lenders Reluctant Central bank report finds improving demand in Q-1, as conditions tighten UAE businesses are demanding more loans but lenders appear less willing to supply them, according to a report from the country’s central bank. In its Q-1 report, the bank said the appetite for business credit improved from […]